Big Cedar Cultivates Arkansas Roots

Of the more than 1 million visitors Big Cedar Lodge says it attracts annually, about 15 percent come from Arkansas.

Located 10 miles south of Branson, Mo., on Table Rock Lake, Big Cedar draws its highest percentage of visitors from Springfield and its surrounding area, public relations manager Sydney Friar said. Beyond that, she added, Arkansas is Big Cedar’s “No. 1 pull.”

Still, with seemingly millions of dollars in improvements in the pipeline, Big Cedar is both issuing past visitors a reminder and trying to attract new ones. Bolstering Big Cedar’s pitch are a couple of recent accolades.

 For starters, the resort was part of Travel + Leisure’s 2012 World’s Best Awards, ranking sixth in the “Top Family Hotels in the United States” category. It also earned a spot on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List, a group of 195 U.S. properties.

“We’re getting all this national recognition, yet all these families right here in our backyard have never even heard of it,” Friar said. “So there’s been a mindset here lately to just kind of open ourselves up for the local demographic and let people know that we’re there.”

What’s available at the 800-acre Big Cedar — and the additional 365 acres at the adjacent Top of the Rock, more specifically — is about to change. Top of the Rock previously was known as a golf course and restaurant, the latter of which was damaged by a kitchen fire about five years ago, Friar said.

Now owner Johnny Morris, also the founder of Bass Pro Shops, is aiming to make Top of the Rock “a destination in itself,” Friar said.

Currently open only for special events, the facility is expected to be open to the public by the end of the year. In addition to the golf facilities and revamped restaurant, there are plans to add a second eatery, inside a barn that’s more than 100 years old and was reassembled piece by piece after being taken apart and transported from Arnold Palmer’s Pennsylvania hometown.

There also will be a new wine cellar that includes tasting rooms and event space. The Ozarks Ancient History Museum will be located inside a cave on the property, and will include four levels, each of which has rentable event space. The top level also will house a bar and moonshine still.

Friar said ground has been broken on two new wedding chapels, too, and a new 17,000-SF spa is expected to open in early 2014. Friar said officials at Big Cedar are declining to put a price tag on the collective efforts.

Friar did say Big Cedar and Top of the Rock plan to continue targeting corporate and group clients in addition to its leisure clientele, and some of the new additions are expected to help. About 20 percent to 30 percent of Big Cedar’s annual guests are part of corporate or other groups, Friar said.

“We have countless organizations that return year after year after year because they know they’re going to get a unique experience,” she added. “It’s not going to be the same old thing every time they come.”

Grandview Conference Center anchors Big Cedar’s total of more than 20,000 SF of flexible meeting space. Big Cedar also offers a variety of team-building activities, including some at Dogwood Canyon, a nearby 10,000-acre sister property.

Those interested in holding meetings and/or team-building-type retreats go over “the essentials, the outline of your stay” with a sales representative, Friar said, then are turned over to a conference service manager/meeting planner to go over Big Cedar’s full menu of services and activities.

Those could include anything from ice-breakers to a working cattle drive.

“We take the guesswork out of it for you,” Friar said.